1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for isolating a component from a fluid mixture, in particular for separating out or concentrating a discrete component of a fluid sample.
Numerous methods may be employed to separate particles from suspensions or to separate different types of particles from each other. Simple physical separation methods such as filtering or centrifugal techniques are commonly used. More sophisticated methods may be employed to separate biological material (eg cells). For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,013,188 discloses a means for attaching magnetic material to biological cells in a suspension and the use of an applied magnetic field to separate the modified cells from the suspension. Techniques based upon electrophoresis are frequently used as a means for separating cells from one another.
2. Description of the Related Art
WO-A-98/46985 (Payne et al) discloses a method for assessing the composition of a liquid sample using resonance impedance measurements. This enables small changes in bulk electrical properties of the sample to be monitored and correlated with changes in the composition of the liquid.